Bernardosaurus says:Bernardosaurus says:After my first wordplay book, There's An Ant In Anthony, was published in 1980, I played around with several other "hidden words," including "it." But the publisher of There's an Ant in Anthony thought a book with many hidden words would be more challenging than a single word. I developed several versions, but they were rejected.
I persisted with the idea, and finally in 1991, Harcourt Brace published Pets in Trumpets. Can You Find It? was inspired by the enthusiasm for my wordplay books of my editor at Harcourt, Diane D'Andrade, as well as by the wordplay projects from so many teachers and children after reading my books.
Here's how I playfully put it in Can You Find It?: "To my favorite Editor, Diane D'Andrade, for giving me the itch to publish an idea that was sitting in my files for years and years, permit me to acknowledge Ms. Susie Mantell's November 1998 pre-first grade class at Westorchard Elementary in Chappaqua, New York; and Mrs. J. Tryggestad's May 1992 class 3Y at Woodside elementary in Peekskill, New York; as well as countless other students and teachers for their wonderful projects based on my wordplay books."